Wadkins: Modern players lack mental toughness to close

Holding a lead on the PGA Tour is seemingly more difficult than it once was. Lanny Wadkins believes it is because of a lack of mental fortitude in the modern player.

"I'm just not sure I see the mental toughness in players that our era dealt with," he said Friday on Golf Channel's "Morning Drive.

"I'm not sure I see guys closing like some of us used to - myself, or Johnny MIller or Raymond Floyd. There was no question we were capable of taking the lead and extending it, and keep going. I think that's what you don't see sometimes."

The 1977 PGA champion cannot seem to pinpoint, however, why players seems more prone to collapse under pressure. He has a few theories.

"We grew up playing more match play, more money games, win at all cost," he said. "Today it's so much about how much you're going to win."

As the paychecks have grown on the PGA Tour, the emphasis on the statistical minutiae of the game has as well. Wadkins believes champions don't need to worry about stats.

"There's so much more involved in the game with the stats and everything else," he said. "I've always been a believer that I've never seen a stat win a tournament."

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Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for over a decade, working for NBC Sports, Golf Channel, Yahoo Sports and SB Nation. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He used to be a good golfer.

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